One text that has been not only influential to my understanding of my call and potential vocation, but also informative in my understanding of the historical development and growth of the Christianity has been The Future of Faith, by Harvey Cox. Harvey Cox divides Christianity into three distinct ages that lead ultimately to the current age, which he terms “the Age of the Spirit.” His book explores human compulsion and necessity for faith as well as new trends that are emerging within the church today. Cox creates an image of a modern church undergoing a revival that will sustain the church’s work as the body of Christ in an everchanging global climate. Personally, Harvey Cox’s Future of Faith challenged my preconceived notions of what it means
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Faith, he writes, expresses deeply held trust or confidence, while belief is reserved for the realm of opinion. People or things that one has “faith in” represent vital principles that one holds dear; however, one can believe something is true without that “belief” really affecting one’s life (3). Cox even goes so far as to assert that faith – much like love – is intuitive or primal, while belief is more superficial. According to Cox, the history of Christianity is primarily a history of people of faith (3-4). To confuse the history of Christianity with the history of beliefs and creeds is to fundamentally misunderstand and misrepresent the reality. Ultimately, with a clearer understanding of the history of faith, one can also gain a lens into its future.
Cox divides all two thousand years of Christian history into three separate periods: the
Age of Faith, the Age of Belief, and the Age of the Spirit. The Age of Faith began with Jesus and his followers and was sustained and upheld – through a period of rapid growth and persecution – by faith in the living Spirit of Christ. Hope for a new era and a dedication to follow Jesus in his work marked this period. Early Christian communities were compelled by a faith that indicated a lifestyle, not strict adherence to set creeds or traditions (5). Shadows of the forthcoming Age of Belief could be seen even a few decades after the beginning of Christianity, but the period
Faith, he writes, expresses deeply held trust or confidence, while belief is reserved for the realm of opinion. People or things that one has “faith in” represent vital principles that one holds dear; however, one can believe something is true without that “belief” really affecting one’s life (3). Cox even goes so far as to assert that faith – much like love – is intuitive or primal, while belief is more superficial. According to Cox, the history of Christianity is primarily a history of people of faith (3-4). To confuse the history of Christianity with the history of beliefs and creeds is to fundamentally misunderstand and misrepresent the reality. Ultimately, with a clearer understanding of the history of faith, one can also gain a lens into its future.
Cox divides all two thousand years of Christian history into three separate periods: the
Age of Faith, the Age of Belief, and the Age of the Spirit. The Age of Faith began with Jesus and his followers and was sustained and upheld – through a period of rapid growth and persecution – by faith in the living Spirit of Christ. Hope for a new era and a dedication to follow Jesus in his work marked this period. Early Christian communities were compelled by a faith that indicated a lifestyle, not strict adherence to set creeds or traditions (5). Shadows of the forthcoming Age of Belief could be seen even a few decades after the beginning of Christianity, but the period